Phoenix Homage - Ditchwater Sam

[TheUdjat]

Name: Ditchwater Sam (But just Sam, unless you want to piss him off)
Race: Human
Classes: Barbarian 1 / Ranger 2
Alignment: Chaotic Good

Gender: Male
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 220
Hair: Bald
Eyes: Brown

Level: 3
For next level: 0 / 3000

Ability Scores

STR: 16 (+3) / 20 (+5) Rage
DEX: 15 (+2)
CON: 16 (+3) / 20 (+5) Rage
INT: 10 (+0)
WIS: 10 (+0)
CHA: 8 (-1)

Totals

Hit Points:
31 / 31 _{(12+3 1st, 5+3 2nd, 5+3 3rd)}
37 / 37 Rage

AC: 17 / 15 Rage _{(10 + 4 Armor + 2 Dex + 1 Shield - 2 Rage)}
Touch: 12
Flatfooted: 15
BAB: +3
- Melee: +6 _{(3 BA + 3 Str)}
- Ranged: +5 _{(3 BA + 2 Dex)}

Weapons

Ashmodai, Two-Bladed Sword (Masterwork)
Full Attack; +6/+6 to hit, 1d8+3/1d8+1 Damage, 19-20/x2
Full Attack (Rage); +8/+8 to hit, 1d8+5/1d8+2 Damage, 19-20/x2
Attack; +8 to hit, 1d8+4 Damage, 19-20/x2
Attack (Rage); +10 to hit, 1d8+7 Damage, 19-20/x2

Warhammer & Light Mace
Full Attack; +4/+4 to hit, 1d8+3/1d6+1 Damage, x3/x2
Full Attack (Rage); +6/+6 to hit, 1d8+5/1d6+2 Damage, x3/x2
Attack; +6 to hit, 1d8+3 Damage, x3
Attack (Rage); +8 to hit, 1d8+5 Damage, x3

Alabaster & Obsidian, Spiked Gauntlets (Masterwork)
Full Attack; +5/+5 to hit, 1d4+2 Silver/1d4+1 Cold Iron Damage, x2
Full Attack (Rage); +7/+7 to hit, 1d4+4 Silver/1d4+2 Cold Iron Damage, x2
Attack (Alabaster); +7 to hit, 1d4+2 Silver Damage, x2
Attack (Alabaster, Rage); +9 to hit, 1d4+4 Silver Damage, x2
Attack (Obsidian); +7 to hit, 1d4+1 Cold Iron Damage, x2
Attack (Obsidian, Rage); +9 to hit, 1d4+2 Cold Iron Damage, x2

Composite Longbow, +2 Str (Masterwork)
Attack; +6 to hit, 1d8+2, x3 Crit

Saves

Fort: +8 / +10 _{(5 Base + 3 Con / + 5 Con Rage)}
Ref: +5 _{(3 Base + 2 Dex)}
Will: +0 / +2_{(0 Base + 0 Wis + 2 Rage)}

Languages

Common (and you should be thankful he knows that)

Feats

- Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Two-Bladed Sword
- Weapon Focus: Two-Bladed Sword
- Two-Weapon Defense (+1 Shield Bonus when using 2 weapons)

Class Abilities

- Rage 1/day, 8 Rounds. +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will Saves, -2 AC
- Fast Movement
- Track
- Two-Weapon Fighting
- Wild Empathy
- Favored Enemy: Undead (+2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival. +2 weapon damage.)

Skills _{(Total = Ranks + Ability + Other Mods)}
Max Ranks 6 / 3.0

Climb: +7 ₍₄₊₃₎
Jump: +7 ₍₄₊₃₎
Knowledge (dungeoneering): +6 ₍₆₊₀₎
Listen: +6 ₍₆₊₀₎
Ride: +5 ₍₃₊₂₎
Survival: +6 ₍₆₊₀₎
Swim: +6 _(5+3-2)

Equipment
Ashmodai (Masterwork Two-Bladed Sword)
Chain Shirt
Masterwork Composite Longbow, +2 Str rating
40 Arrows
Warhammer
Light Mace
Alabaster (Masterwork Spiked Gauntlet, Alchemical Silver, R-Hand)
Obsidian (Masterwork Spiked Gauntlet, Cold Iron, L-Hand)
2 Boot Knives (Daggers)
Explorer's Outfit

Potion of Cure Light Wounds x2
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
Potion of Protection from Evil x2
Potion of Shield of Faith x2
Potion of Enlarge Person
Oil of Magic Weapon

Money
29 gp
27 sp
30 cp

Backstory

“You see that man over there – no, don’t look now! They call him Ditchwater Sam. He’s not the kind of guy you want to cross in a dark alley, but they say if you leave him a drink, fortune might swing your way.” I listened to the man with amusement. To say that his story was far-fetched would be an understatement, but he had been excellent company that night, so I thought it prudent to amuse him.

“Aye, fortune I bet,” I replied. “He must be a friend, or you wouldn’t be trying to swindle a drink out of me.”

“No friend of mine!” my companion insisted. “No, that Ditchwater Sam, I’d not wish his company on my worst enemy!”

I tilted my head curiously. “And yet you suggest leaving him a drink?”

“Oh yes,” he said. “He’s not the kind of luck charm you want around you, but if fate has your mark, you want good karma with him. He’s a queer sort, that Ditchwater, but it’s wise to respect him.” The man nodded sagely, perhaps more sagely than usual, given the ale he’d ingested so far that night.

I dared a glance at the so-called Ditchwater Sam, deciding enough time had passed to douse suspicion. He was certainly nothing special by his appearance. A large fellow, to be sure, but an ugly and rugged sort who probably hadn’t seen the clean water of a bathhouse in many moons. His clothes were worn with use and torn with misuse, more closely resembling layers of rags than actual garments. The hood of his ragged cloak was drawn, but his features were little hidden by the firelight of the tavern. His hair was gone, either by incident or intent, and his skin held prodigious scarring, of the kind ruffians or prisoners experience. His eyes were dark and gleaming in the firelight, but they stared at nothing in particular – through the mug in front of him, perhaps. He was, in short, quite an unappealing individual.

I shivered. “Why do they call him ‘Ditchwater’?” I asked.

“Nobody knows what else to call ‘im!” my companion replied. “No parents, no family, no identity to speak of. They say he just lives in the sewers and the underground. Some say he was an orphan what met something foul that changed him, others say he was never born at all! Nobody knows but ‘im, and he doesn’t hardly talk to no-one. But they sees him around the ditchwater, and he smells of it, so that’s what they calls ‘im.”

I eyed the man more studiously. So he was a figure of urban legend, then – the boogie man made manifest, perhaps. “And they call him Sam?”

“That they do – He hasn’t made protest of it, at any rate. The last man that called him ‘Ditchwater’, though, now there’s a story! If leavin’ a drink for him is good luck, tellin’ ‘im his title’s got to be the worst luck!”

As I watched the strange, dark, dirty figure, his hand raised. It shined from across the room, and, squinting, I saw why: it was covered in pristine, bright metal! Ditchwater wore a gauntlet, spiked wickedly, with which he raised his mug and took a drink. Looking further, I noticed another something leaning up against the wall near the man. At first I thought it was a staff, but then I saw the metal of it glint – a blade with two ends! I’d heard of the like, but never seen it, especially not on so unsavory a character. This Ditchwater was some mystery!

“Is he a warrior of some kind?” I asked my inebriated companion.

He shrugged. “He must fight something, what with those weapons he carries. He doesn’t tell no-one, and no-one thinks to ask. I’ve heard some stories, though, but you know how stories go.” I did. I gave Ditchwater one more passing inspection, then turned my attention to other matters, for the night was still young, and my amusement not fulfilled.

But as the night drew on and my imbibing increased, I soon found myself matching my companion for incoherency and drunkenness. It was a night for revelry, to be sure! And as the night wore on, I turned my attention again to the strange dark man in the corner, and thinking little of the urban legend, I brought Ditchwater Sam a drink, though I nearly tripped before I got to his booth.

“Here Mr. Sam! A little something from me to you!” And I laughed and turned away, returning to the merriment around me. Ditchwater gave me a look and nothing more, but he took the drink. My new companion and I laughed over the matter and I thought nothing more of it, until I found myself walking home.

I had a great many city blocks to cross before I would make it home, but I foolishly though to undertake the journey alone, unaided, and without the coin for more secure passage. I found myself, drunk and boisterous, staggering through an alley in the general direction of my home. It should come as no surprise what happened next.

“Hold it, lout, and you might yet live to drink again!” a voice said from in front of me. I squinted, trying to focus my dizzy head on the man, and saw a cutthroat before me, his short, rusty blade drawn and at the ready. A quick, unbalanced look around revealed three or four more, and I knew I was in dire straits. Live? There’d be no sense leaving a live victim. My drunkenness made me bold where I might otherwise plead for life.

“You wanna fight?” I slurred out. I reached for my own sword, but it slipped from my hands, clattering to the cobblestone beneath. “Whoops.”

“You can’t hardly stand, you idiot! Give us your purse and that fine blade there, and maybe those fine boots of yours.”

“They’re new!” I exclaimed with little comprehension, even as I awkwardly bent down to try and retrieve my weapon. “Besides,” I slurred, “How’m I gonna kick ya with ‘em if I give ‘em over?” I grinned at my assailants.

“He’s gone, mates,” the apparent leader finally decided. “Let’s just waste him and get out of here.”

They didn’t even bother with their blades, at first. One of them gave me a good kick in the ribs, sending me toppling over into a pile of refuse lining the alley, and that was practically the end of my resistance. Their leader poised over me, blade in hand, intending to finish the job. “Look at it this way, lad,” he said. “At least you won’t have to deal with the hangover.”

“Every man should have to deal with his hangover, in his turn,” a deep voice said from down the alley. The thugs turned, and so did I, and a dark figure loomed down the alleyway. Now, it might’ve been my inebriation, but the man seemed a giant, imposing and frightful, his figures unseen. He was backlit by a lamppost on the main street, but one could make out the large, two-bladed weapon he carried, and the spikes glinting off his hands.

It was Ditchwater Sam, but not as I remember him.

The cutthroat above me looked between me and the new menace, deciding whether he favored to dispatch me before addressing this new threat or to simply let me be. He finally decided I wasn’t going anywhere and squared to face Ditchwater, his gang forming around him. “Now just walk on by, son. This isn’t any of your concern.”

“I think it is,” Sam replied. “He bought me a drink.”

The thug tilted his head in confusion, and at that point Ditchwater charged. The violence was hazy from where I sat, fogged in a cloud of drunkenness, but the I dimly remember the carnage, even to this day. Ditchwater wielded that weapon like an expert, and it didn’t take him long at all to eviscerate the thugs. He made no effort to spare their lives, though when the final cutthroat chose to run, he offered no pursuit. He turned instead to me.

“Thanks!” I blurted out, in my drunken way.

Sam loomed over me, and one metal hand dipped down to pull me up. He steadied me for a moment, until I had something resembling balance, and then he released me. He stared at me with eyes that, it seemed, had seen too much in their time – certainly more than a few cutthroats in an alley. “Thanks for the drink,” he said, and then he turned and walked away.

I stared at him leaving, like some ghostly specter. The whole event seemed almost like a dream, but the ache in my ribs the next morning assured me it was real. No, Ditchwater Sam wasn’t the kind of person you’d want to spend time with, but a stiff drink sent his way was worth the expense. Because there’s only one time you want to see Ditchwater Sam, and when that time comes you want him to owe you some thanks.

[sans]

Interesting build. The barb's rage offsets the penalty for two-weapon fighting. I like it. I might steal this build next time I play in a high-level game (ranger11=Greater TWF!).

I believe you forgot to subtract 1 point from your silver gauntlet damage (because it's silver). Damage should be (1d3+2).

[sans]

oops, found another mistake... the Two-weapon Defense feat requires at least 15 DEX.

[TheUdjat]

sans said:

Interesting build. The barb's rage offsets the penalty for two-weapon fighting. I like it. I might steal this build next time I play in a high-level game (ranger11=Greater TWF!).

I believe you forgot to subtract 1 point from your silver gauntlet damage (because it's silver). Damage should be (1d3+2).

Nope, I subtracted it directly from the bonus damage. It would be 1d4+3, instead it's 1d4+2. I could do 1d3+3, which is actually more beneficial for me if you like.

oops, found another mistake... the Two-weapon Defense feat requires at least 15 DEX.

Son of a... How did I miss that?

Torn between rearranging the stats or replacing the feat. I'll have to think on it.

[sans]

theudjat said:

sans said:

I believe you forgot to subtract 1 point from your silver gauntlet damage (because it's silver). Damage should be (1d3+2).

Nope, I subtracted it directly from the bonus damage. It would be 1d4+3, instead it's 1d4+2. I could do 1d3+3, which is actually more beneficial for me if you like.

I don't know what I was thinking. You are correct 1d4+2 it is.

[TheUdjat]

Took his glorious enlightenment away to bump the Dex up. He didn't need those skill points anyway!

Haven't had a chance to work on the background, but it'll come.

[sans]

Looks good.

I should probably clarify that in Phoenix Homage, it's acceptable for rangers to have humans and animals as a "favored enemies." I always thought "favored enemy" imparted way too much unnecessary flavor.

For example, in real life, soldiers, police and martial arts experts all have expertise in killing other humans. That does not mean they hate humans. Similarly, a vet probably has the advantage of killing animals, too.

In game terms (especially in a world like PH where monsters are rare) this means that a ranger who has "favored enemy(human)" is simply an expert at tracking, and killing humans. A good ranger may have developed this ability to combat evil humans. Simple as that.

Basically, I just wanted you to know you have more choices than just undead for favored enemy, be it now or for future levels.

[TheUdjat]

sans said:

Looks good.

I should probably clarify that in Phoenix Homage, it's acceptable for rangers to have humans and animals as a "favored enemies." I always thought "favored enemy" imparted way too much unnecessary flavor.

For example, in real life, soldiers, police and martial arts experts all have expertise in killing other humans. That does not mean they hate humans. Similarly, a vet probably has the advantage of killing animals, too.

In game terms (especially in a world like PH where monsters are rare) this means that a ranger who has "favored enemy(human)" is simply an expert at tracking, and killing humans. A good ranger may have developed this ability to combat evil humans. Simple as that.

Basically, I just wanted you to know you have more choices than just undead for favored enemy, be it now or for future levels.

It's good to hear this, because that's pretty much how I always interpretted 'favored enemy'. Ever since they took away they 'must be evil to choose your own species!' requirement.

No, I know I could pick Humans/Animals. I gave it some sincere thought. The Undead bit is part of a backstory, which will make more sense when I get into it.

Since I'm on that subject, how do Flaws work, exactly? Is this some means of acquiring another feat or something? Because I was big on getting Twisted Knowledge until it really didn't fit the build (and once I didn't have the skills to make use of it).

Anyway, yeah, there's a point to the Favored Enemy Undead. If you decide you don't want it, that's cool, too.

[sans]

Flaws:
Basically, for each flaw you choose, you gain a bonus feat. In the world of Phoenix Homage, there is the additional requirement of describing a major birth defect associated with each flaw. See www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm for a list of flaws.

Favored Enemy:
Choosing undead is fine. I wasn't trying to dissuade you, I was just trying to make sure you knew all the options.

[TheUdjat]

Updated to add some backstory. It's not a literal background, but I think it gives a good enough picture of the character.

[sans]

Great job. I like the novel approach of describing your character though the eyes of a complete stranger.

Looks like your PC is good to go.